Sunday, July 22, 2012

Kidnapped by a handsome man with rabbit ears, Alice Liddell finds herself abandoned in an odd place called Wonderland and thrust into a "game," the rules of which she has yet to learn. Alice, ever the plucky tomboy, sets off to explore and get the lay of this strange land, intent on finding her rude kidnapper and giving him a piece of her mind (and her fist). But little does she know that she's wandered right into the middle of a dangerous power struggle involving just about all of Wonderland's attractive, weapon-happy denizens. And the only way for Alice to return home is to get acquainted with the lot of them?! How in the world will she manage that and still manage to stay alive?

I'm going to state this again but I highly recommend this series to an older teen audience since there is some scenes or language a younger audience shouldn't see or hear.

This manga opens with Boris talking to Alice about the Ball that night and if she has a dress. Then Gowland arrives and then he starts getting into it with Boris about he's hurt, etc. Alice starts yelling at them to stop it and Boris is hurt is what's more important.

Alice says she won't be going to the ball because she doesn't know how to dance when suddenly more people arrive and they teach her to dance. She finds out that Blood will be there and she says she won't be going. Later on we see Ace dressed up and says Julius and Alice aren't you dressed yet? Alice says she won't be going because she doesn't have a dress. Julius tells Alice to step over where his clocks are and then he claps his hands and a dress magically appears on Alice. He also says he doesn't want to go but she's going too.

They arrive at the Heart Mansion and she tries to sneak away but the guards won't open the door. The Queen is about to speak and she announces that for this night everyone will forget their competition and have fun. Alice starts dancing with Boris when all of a sudden the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum arrive and complain that Boris is dancing with the Lady and didn't tell them. They want to dance with her too and to save the problem those people arrive again. They decide to dance in a circle with everyone holding hands.

During the festival Blood comes out of Vivaldi's tea room because he couldn't tear himself away from her Black Tea he loves. He sees Alice and he starts talking to her when Elliot asks him if he would like some more tea and they leave.

Alice goes chasing after him but she sees Peter in the hallways and he starts talking to her. He starts hugging her when Blood suddenly appears behind them and he says that she is proving him right that she leads all the guys on and to get a room. Then he leaves and Alice chases after him again and barges into his room. Blood is looking out the window and they start chatting about how he hates outsiders. They come to an agreement that he would forget she's an outsider and she would pretend she wouldn't compare him to her ex-boyfriend.

The next day Alice is having tea with Blood and friends and then they start chatting. Everyone is surprised to see Alice there and they start asking her did she make up with Blood? She says Blood is pretending to forget she's an Outsider and then he says I thought you wanted me to forget you are an Outsider, etc?

After Blood asks Alice to follow him and they arrive at the Rose Garden where she sees Vivaldi. She learns they are brother and sister and that no knows and they are keeping it a secret. Everyday they have tea in the Rose Garden and then Blood prunes his roses while Vivaldi and Alice have a nice chat.

Vol. 6

This volume opens with Alice meeting Blood and Boris at the Amusement Park. Blood isn't happy to see Alice and asks her why she is there? They start arguing and he tells Boris he won't pay for her ticket but she says that she has a free ticket from Gowland. Blood starts walking away and calling for Boris to follow him. Boris says bye to Alice and then we see Alice meeting Gowland.

Next thing we know we Alice with Gowland having a meeting with Blood who isn't happy to see Alice again. He asks Gowland why she is there and he replies that he asked her to come. They proceed to try to negotiate but Gowland refuses to give his Amusement Park to Blood. Gowland pulls out a little gun and start shooting at Blood when Boris interferes and then Gowland pulls out a big automatic machine gun and starts shooting. No one gets hurt and they finally stop and go on their way and Boris takes Alice away.

While Blood is on his way home he is confronted by Ace and they start fighting. Blood manages to rip off Ace's facemask but Ace saves it while sprouting it's very important to him. Meanwhile Boris is explaining to Alice every spring two inhabitants face off each other and this time it's Blood and Ace's turn.

Alice runs off while being worried that Blood would be the one to die. She is on her way to Blood's place when she sees him. He's still not happy to see her and brushes her off. She goes home to the Clock Tower where Julius asks her if she's really going home which she replies yes there are people there she wants to see again. He says she will always have a place at the Clock Tower if she decides to stay.

We see Peter Rabbit shooting servants with no regard to their feelings or safety. The King asks him to stop shooting them or they won't have any left but he doesn't listen to him. Ace realizes that Peter is upset because Alice doesn't love him. He asks Queen Vivadi to make him stop but she is enjoying a cup of tea when she spies someone in the gardens. She slams her cup down and rushes into the garden to speak to Blood. She calls him a fool and a coward because he's not going after what he wants. They have a small discussion then she leaves.

Blood is sleeping when he sees Nightmare in his dreams and they start fighting. They have a discussion and Blood says he's not afraid of Nightmare.

Alice decides she wants to go home and looks at her bottle and it's almost filled up. She heads off and waits to finally get home. She sees Queen Vivaldi and they have an interesting conversation and then she leaves. Finally Alice is able to leave and everyone can sense she is leaving Wonderland. When she finally lands she is outside in her yard under a tree. When all of a sudden she sees Blood and he's walking towards her. He captures her and kisses her forcing her to drink again. She kisses him back and makes him drink too. He explains that Nightmare showed him how to come get her. He picks her up and they both go down the hole again. Everyone is happy to see her even Peter who has a conversation with Ace. He admits he wished that Alice loved him but if she is happy with Blood then he just wants to be happy.

Alice is residing at the Clock Tower again and the manga ends with Blood and Peter dueling with pistols. We learn a secret about Alice's older sister.

I highly recommend this series if you like a well written manga with great characterization, twisted humor, beautiful illustrations and some violence.

5/5

Thanks Hachette Book Group Canada/Yen Press for sending me this manga to review, greatly appreciated!